Dependent Independence
by Undercurrent
Summary: [Main: AyuHiyo Minor: KiyoMado, EyesRio, KouRyo, SayoKano] After closing the case of the Blade Children, Ayumu thought that he was now finally out of his brother's shadow. But is he really on his own or is he just shifting his dependence to another?
1. Chapter 1

_Dependent Independence_

_By: Undercurrent_

**DISCLAIMER!** We do not own Spiral/Suiri no Kizuna.

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_Chapter I - "Questions Unanswered"_

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Hiyono stood up from where she sat, against the door to Ayumu's room, as he played the last notes of the song he was playing on the piano. She knew he didn't like it when other people listened to him playing the piano openly but then again, he never caught her in the act during the many times she quietly listened from outside their school's music room. 

She had to wonder what his reaction will be when he sees her though. After all, she had been gone for two years with no communication with him whatsoever. Though he never got to hear a word about her, she, on the other hand, constantly inquired about him through her varying resources in Japan. Luckily, she had an informant in the hospital where he was confined, letting her know all the technicalities, complications and progresses in his situation. She just hoped that he won't get too angry with her. It wasn't like she had that much time to explain to him her part in Kiyotaka-san's plan two years ago. Even she herself didn't fully understand the situation and by just how much her involvement was.

There are just too many questions that needed to be answered prior to her disappearance. Not exactly the best of topics to talk about in their very first meeting in two years. 'But such things just couldn't be helped,' Hiyono thought to herself silently, biting her lip in her anxiety.

After much thinking, she decided that she couldn't bear to be there any longer, being so near to a person whom she missed so much in her absence, yet, feeling so far from him because of everything that she hid from him. Things that she knew he'd ask her as soon as she walked through his door. She didn't know if she was ready for that yet.

"Anou… whatever," she said to herself as she walked towards the door, throwing away all of the doubts and 'what ifs' that were clouding her mind, 'He needs to know,' echoed in her mind, making her even bolder and sure of herself and how she'll be able to handle things.

She held her breath, clenched her eyes shut and pushed the door open.

Or, at least she intended to. But due to her eyes being closed, tightly at that, she missed the hazy shadow on the tinted window on the other side of the door. The door had swung open, leaving her nothing but air to push, only to land in an ungraceful heap inside the small hospital room.

'Talk about a grand entrance,' Hiyono thought sarcastically, her cheeks feeling hot as she blushed furiously at her clumsiness.

"Yeah," Ayumu said, startling Hiyono because he looked like he was reading her thoughts… and he was correct, if ever he was really reading her mind.

'Eh… Freaky,' Hiyono thought as a comically gloomy look appeared on her face like it would on any freaked-out anime character.

Desperate to give him a fast reply to ease her embarrassment, Hiyono blurted out, "So, how were you this past two years?" It was a random thought, just how anyone would ask their friend after being separated from each other. However, having asked that, Hiyono unconsciously brought upon herself the situation that she wanted to avoid.

Ayumu found a funny diversion though. Well, it seems like he was avoiding the situation himself. I mean, no one likes being interviewed about things that they're not used to sharing. Things like… their feelings, for example.

She was still lying across the floor, flashing anyone who happened to pass by his room, her pink floral printed panties.

"You're still wearing that type of undergarments at your age? And you claim to be older than me." Ayumu muttered, as he walked back to his bed to lie down.

It wasn't meant to be an answer but a warning, as Hiyono obviously wasn't fully aware that her undergarments were on display.

Yeah, Hiyono could be really slow at times especially where Ayumu was concerned and after a short while, screamed an, "ACK!! You saw my bloomers! Hentai! Ecchi!!" when she finally understood what Ayumu meant.

Ayumu only shrugged, "Really now, like I wanted to see that… Obba-san."

Hiyono released a frustrated sigh, puffed out her cheeks, and crossed her arms over her ample bosom, childishly refusing to look anywhere but him.

Yes, Hiyono is the perfect example of a mature and intellectual nineteen-year-old.

_Not!_

A result that was unforeseen from his diversion, Ayumu realized, for the first time in two years, just how much he missed Hiyono's antics.

He first felt scorn when he had heard that she left for Germany two years ago without so much as a goodbye or a note. But after a while, he didn't really care anymore because he became angry with her about her involvement in his brother's plans. 'Just ignore it, it will pass,' he thought and he actually believed in himself that time that he was correct. Only now, he proved himself wrong.

Because as time passes, it slowly turned to a dull ache when he realized that it isn't really the truth that "he didn't care"… he did.

Why wouldn't he?

They had parted ways with a large rift between them, though he'd rather lose his other arm than admit it out loud to anyone else that he was **devastated** when she left.

As much as he missed her though, he really dreaded their confrontation, after who knows how much time passed, knowing that it will be a very long and troublesome talk.

But he was obviously worrying over nothing for the past two years.

When it came to Hiyono, she always finds a way to break the tension whether intentionally or not.

"So... where should we start?" Hiyono interrupted his thoughts with her bubbly voice as she started fumbling around with her fingers, knowing that this situation cannot be avoided anymore. _They had to talk._

'She's uneasy too,' Ayumu thought warily.

He sighed as the atmosphere around them thickened with questions waiting to be asked but both inquirers not really sure if they want to hear the answers or not. It could just be too painful but, curiosity killed the cat, you know? Knowing those two, their questions would bug them for forever and a half.

"Seriously, why did you leave for Germany?" he heard himself ask her, not being able to control himself anymore, the phrase "what if" seemed like it was taking over his mind.

From the very beginning, he never really wanted to ask her this because it made him appear disbelieving and a bit emotional too, but he just wanted to know what she had to say.

His brother's explanation may all be too well and correct but he wanted to hear it from her... why she chose to leave him when he needed her the most. Up to now, he really couldn't believe everything that was happening. How he was a clone and she was a machination... It's just all so darned confusing.

'I'm letting my thoughts get ahead of me again,' he scolded himself, stopping him from thinking about more unnecessary things.

Lately, he had been questioning himself what his purpose was now that the future of the Blade Children has been made stable.

Is he really supposed to go back to his normal life like nothing happened?

What about his being a clone, is he really doomed to always be under his brother's shadow? He hated himself for thinking these things and envied Hiyono for being her happy self amidst the fact that her situation is, technically, worst than his.

'I was supposed to die… though,' he added shortly after that last thought, memories of Hizumi suddenly clouding his mind, but now, he chose to clear his head of them because that wasn't the main point, his relationship with Hiyono was.

"Y-You know the answer to that," Hiyono finally replied, shocking Ayumu out of his train of thoughts.

"I didn't want to believe that everything my brother said was the complete answer behind your sudden disappearance because I know that you have things to say from your own perspective as well," Ayumu replied, not noticing how what he said touched Hiyono.

"You... You know that that's my purpose, right? To obey Kiyotaka, I mean. After all, I'm the machination he made to prepare you for all of... this..." Hiyono hastily replied, although the two last words came out of her mouth slowly.

For a few moments, nothing but deafening silence was heard from the two until Ayumu finally asked, "So that was your sudden 'assignment' then?"

Hiyono only nodded in reply, seeing that there was nothing else to explain or even to say in additional.

"Why did you come back?"

His voice sounded different, telling Hiyono indirectly how much he struggled to ask such a question.

"Y-You... care?" Hiyono asked right back at him, feeling stupid for asking something like that when the answer was obvious, but still, it was nice to hear the words from his own mouth. She speculated at how she missed irritating him like this. However, the situation now was different because she asked the question not just to tease him but also because of pure curiosity. I mean, this was the person who didn't even give her importance back then! Of course she'd be shocked at such a development from the norm.

"Of course I do! Why would I ask if I didn't?" Ayumu exclaimed, his voice sounding angry when it was indeed only him being emotional over this, "Sorry for being emotional," he quickly apologized as he recomposed himself, slowly adding, "Anyone would... if someone they cared for suddenly disappeared."

"Well, first, I need to know what he told you before I can add anything, right?" She flashed him one of her eager smiles to lighten the tension that was in the room. This, in a way, also helped her calm down and think.

"Hiyono went to Germany because of an urgent assignment she needs to attend to," Ayumu swiftly replied, quoting not only Kiyotaka's words but also the way he spoke it then as he remembered it, cold and without feeling. It appeared to him then that his brother took the matter lightly, _very_ lightly.

"Then I guess I'll have to start at the very beginning, ne?" Hiyono said, as she got herself comfortable beside him on the bed.

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**A/N**: The information on which we based this fic on was from the whole anime (25 episodes), manga chapters one to sixteen and the anime's Wikipedia article. The rest, we weaved them, those facts being the foundation, with our wild imaginations. I hope our characters weren't too OOC. This was our first time writing a Spiral fic. _R&R please!_

_ Anou_ - Japanese equivalent of "err..."

_Obba-san_ - old lady

_Hentai_ - pervert

_Ecchi_ - indecent_  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Dependent Independence_

_By: Undercurrent_

**DISCLAIMER!** We do not own Spiral/Suiri no Kizuna.

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Chapter II - "My Only Regret

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_"Would you like to know who you are?"_

_Those were the very words he said to me as he offered me his hand. I couldn't see his face then but I could make out a tall, lean figure of a man. He was really intelligent; he said the very words that could make anyone let their defenses down, and be stricken with intense curiosity. At the same time... he gave her a chance to know about herself._

_And that, for an orphan especially, is quite something. Since her parents died, little Hiyono was left alone in the world with a small fortune that was enough to let her live a good life without working, no worry about her education, and a house complete with furniture all to herself but with no clue to who she really is. Thus, her obsession with information. _

_She had always thought that the arrangement was convenient. A little too convenient._

_"In exchange for what?" Hiyono though, as a master of collecting information, knew the tricks of the trade. She knew that he must have something to take of hers in exchange of such precious information so she asked that question before he could ask her._

_"Nothing at all," The older man replied, a faint smirk appearing on his thin lips. Hiyono was surprised how this gesture reminded her of a certain someone._

_"Narumi-san?" she mouthed to herself but judging by the man's reaction towards her impolite cutting of his sentence, she deducted that he must have been the older Narumi-san._

_"Narumi Kiyotaka." _

_Right on timing as the older man gave his reaction, Hiyono muttered this name. She was a bit apprehensive at first, worrying that she might anger him but after a few moments the man continued._

_"You will have to go to Germany though to find out about your true self."_

_"Germany?!?" Hiyono suddenly asked out of shock._

_"Why... there?"_

_There was a hint of sadness in her last statement as she realized that she'll have to be away from Ayumu just when he needed her most. Then again, it's not like she already said yes. Anxiety and worry were evident in her eyes and just as she was deciding if she should back up, the man interrupted her._

_"You have no choice though, now that I have confirmed just how much you know."_

_Suddenly, her eyes mirrored fear as she tried to run away from the man, "B-but Kiyotaka-san! I can't leave... not when Narumi-san is-"_

_"Here's the address for the laboratory you're going to visit once you're in Germany." Kiyotaka interrupted, sounding very calm while she was anxious to death._

_"Your plane leaves tomorrow at 14:00, please don't be late." he smiled at her as he bowed his head in goodbye._

_"B-but...!" Hiyono stuttered, struggling to make him stay and to talk with him. _

_'I can't make such a rash decision... tomorrow... i-it's all so quick!' she thought._

_And before she could even organize her sentence, the infuriating man was gone just as fast as he had appeared._

"_At least there's no doubt he's a Narumi." She muttered to herself._

_Hiyono was in deep thought as she walked back to her house._

_Yes._

_House._

_She could never consider such an empty place without memories as her home. This led right back to Kiyotaka's already tempting offer._

_He was giving her the opportunity to change the fact that she was alone for as long as he can remember. No matter how small the chances are there was still the slightest of hopes of her finding about her past._

'_And why shouldn't you believe him?' her mind asked._

_This was the guy who always said: 'The happiness of the believer.'_

_The man wouldn't contradict his own words would he?_

_But then again, he and his brother were contradictions put together in a body, forming such a complex and sometimes dysfunctional no matter how intelligent or brilliant mind. _

_Usually dysfunctional in the ' outward display of affections' area._

_Narumi Ayumu, he was the stoic type of guy, cold and mysterious like his brother it seems but once she got to know him she saw how kind and human he could be. If they are opposites, then Kiyotaka...?_

'_I can't judge him that easily.' she scolded herself as she quickly stopped the thought._

_Reaching her bedroom, she saw the pictures that she took when she and Ayumu last went out, to hunt down information, of course. But she made it fun with a little trip to this new sushi shop here and this ice cream store there, and oh, they stopped by the arcades because she wanted him to win her another ducky, her old one was getting a bit... well, distraught._

_Hiyono smiled at the recollection._

_Suddenly, a question popped in her head, "Will I tell him?"_

_"Matte...Tell him? So I'm going to accept this?"_

_And in true Hiyono fashion, she freaked herself out inside the four walls of her stuff-toy cramped bedroom._

_"I can't believe I'm actually accepting that man's offer!!"_

_"Hiyo-chan no baka! What the hell are you thinking? You can't just leave Narumi-san alone!!!"_

--

"So you argued with yourself of how stupid you were? That's the whole story?" Ayumu asked.

A kuma and an usagi met his poor and abused head, even though it wasn't really this abused for a long time due to Hiyono being away. He... he felt like he missed this.

Ayumu cringed. Since when had he been such a wuss?

"Of course not!" Hiyono exclaimed, making Ayumu feel relieved that she didn't notice him make the unnecessary gesture. He was sure that she'd ask why he cringed and he himself didn't know the answer.

Of course he didn't... did he? Err, if he didn't know, then why did he do it? . Okay, so maybe he did. But just because he knew why doesn't mean that he was comfortable with telling her the real reason about it, right?

Just when Ayumu finally convinced himself that his thoughts were actually logical and well-thought out, Hiyono finally continued her story.

--

_Hiyono would have continued her self-bashing further if her pink cellular phone hadn't rang and interrupted her fight with herself._

_Hiyono hesitantly picked up her phone..._

_Only to be greeted by Kiyotaka's voice. She briefly wondered how he got her number and who his sources was but pushed it at the back of her mind. She couldn't help it, she was a sucker for details._

_"So, have you decided yet." it wasn't so much of a question but a demand._

_Kiyotaka has always been known as a manipulator, yet subtly that you don't even realize he's been manipulating you all along until he already got what he wanted._

_It was what made him a very, very scary adversary indeed. _

_No wonder the hunters were afraid of him. She had seen what this man had done to Kanone and probably many other people. She would admit that though this man who played a lot of people by his will angered her, she was also intimidated by his prowess._

_Yet so far, everything that Kiyotaka did, served a world of good for the Blade Children and improving Narumi-san's skills. _

_If she would consider that particular fact, it only points to one thing. This may be the last and final stage of Narumi Kiyotaka's test to make Ayumu surpass him and turn him into a god who could defeat the devil and change fate._

_Given by the game master himself. _

_It just so happened that she wasn't needed in this particular situation if not a burden. Even though it pains her to leave her best friend in a situation where he would likely need her help._

_She just had to have faith in Narumi-san to survive this last and final hurdle alone to be truly strong and for him to finally walk out of his brother's shadow._

_With that matter resolved in her mind in the span of seconds, she gave out a firm and confident reply to the man waiting patiently on the other line._

_"Yes."_

_Her only regret was that she wouldn't be there to see Narumi-san succeed herself.  
_

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**mouseter: **I know, I know. We're terribly late in updating and that this chapter isn't long enough to compensate for thatIt's just that it's been rough for the both of us ('mouseter' and 'Nadir and Blue Wings') , especially now that we're no longer attending the same school and it's hard for our schedules to match. We won't even be surprised if you've already lost hope that we'll ever update. 

Am I trying to talk us out of our tardiness and using the old 'woe-is-me-so-have-pity-on-me' to be forgiven and accumulate reviews? Absolutely!

BTW: the one talking on the author's notes in first chapter was Nadir and Blue Wings. Just so you won't get confused.


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